L’estate del 2006: Italia - Australia
December 30, 2007 10:16 pm(The summer of 2006: Italy - Australia)
Since everyone (except Gattuso) has been enjoying some between-holiday relaxation this weekend, there isn’t much to report in terms of news or noteworthy rumors. Subsequently, for today’s post, I’m going to take a step back and say some things that I’ve wanted to say for quite some time. Hopefully, I won’t make any enemies in the process. Here goes:
The Azzurri faithful remember the summer of 2006 fondly, and for good reason.
By way of an undeniable team effort, the members of the Nazionale overcame not only fierce competition in Germany, but also a scandal on their homefront, an attempted suicide by a former teammate, and nagging slander from the host nation’s media. Nonetheless, despite these obstacles, the Azzurri lifted calcio’s/soccer’s/football’s most highly coveted trophy, and thereby proved their merit to the world.
That is… they proved their merit to much - but not all - of the world. See… it seems that in many cases, when we - the tifosi - the fans - happily reminisce about the accomplishments of our Azzurri, someone - a friend, a co-worker, a commentator, a journalist, a coach - someone feels the need to rob us of our joy by proclaiming that Italy “did not deserve to win” the World Cup.
From the point of view of the Azzurri tifosi, few comments are more annoying, more insulting, or more blatantly erroneous. Of course Italy deserved to win, we explain patiently. Did they not see the inspired match against Ukraine? How about the heroic effort against Germany? Did they not see the pressure that Italy placed upon the French?
At this point, the nay-sayers seem to enjoy bringing up their counterpoint of choice - which they feel is clear evidence that the Azzurri got through not by merit, but by luck. What do they bring up? Of course, they bring up the match against Australia, and the now-famous penalty.
If the Azzurri followers have heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: Australia were robbed. Italy were lucky. Grosso took a dive. Australia would’ve won.
Well, in response, here’s what I say: Australia weren’t robbed, Italy were not lucky, Grosso fell over an exceedingly stupid Lucas Neill, and unless you have a DeLorean equipped with a Flux Capacitor, you can’t possibly know who would’ve won.
So there.
Don’t worry, I will substantiate those claims in this post, but first, it’s probably a good idea to actually watch the match highlights. It was, after all, a year and a half ago, and some could probably use a refresher course. Let’s take a look:
First off, let me say that I admire Australia’s team, Viduka and Bresciano in particular. Both played especially hard, although the entire squad really exerted themselves right up until the end of the match. That’s actually what I like most about the Socceroos; they’re forever working, and (when they’re not playing Italy) I enjoy watching them.
(Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to business.)
Some claim that Australia deserved to win on June 26, 2006, and others will even contend that Australia were the better squad. To those who make such claims, I say this: Italy were playing a man down for half the match. If your 11 players can’t even manage a goal against a 10-man Azzurri squad, you’re not exactly building a strong “better squad” case, and sorry, but you sure as hell don’t deserve to win by any stretch of the imagination.
Speaking of the Azzurri being a man down, why is it that everyone questions the penalty, but nobody questions Marco Materazzi’s sending off? Take a look again at his tackle in the video posted above. (It’s 1 min. 19 sec. in.) Granted, it wasn’t the cleanest of tackles, but at the same token, it was not worthy of red. (Hell - he actually collided with Zambrotta for the most part.) Had Materazzi not been (wrongly) dismissed, who knows? A full-strength Italy may have put one or more in before the penalty!
That “what if” thought brings me to my next point: People talk as though Australia were sure to win the match, had the famous penalty not been awarded. In response, I’d like to ask these individuals the following question: How the hell did you get a time machine? In truth, there’s no telling what would’ve happened had Lucas Neill not gone to the ground in Grosso’s path. Italy may have won anyway.
Speaking of the penalty-prompting incident, the only question I have is why the hell Neill would go to the ground in a situation like that. I will admit that Grosso may have added a touch of drama to his fall on the way down, but there is no doubt in my mind that he made contact and actually fell over Lucas Neill, who (unbelievably) took to the ground where there was no need to do so. Take a look again at the video above. (It’s 2 min. 10 sec. in.) If I suddenly lay down in front of someone that’s running just as they’re practically on top of me, chances are, they’re going down. Sorry, but that’s the way it works. If you don’t want the person to fall, don’t lay the #*%& down in front of them! Honestly, if it makes Australia feel any better to have a scapegoat, they need look no further than Neill. The rules are simple - you don’t take someone down in the box. Neill did just that. A penalty is the result.
Alright. I ‘ve said what I had to say. Azzurri fans, feel free to direct people to this post, should they ever tell you that Italy “got lucky” or that Italy “didn’t deserve to win the World Cup.” If they don’t like what I have to say, or if they just don’t like listening to reason, have them take a look at these videos (which happen to be by someone else).
Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks that Italy are rightful world champions:
-Part 1-
-Part 2-
Categories: Azzurri, World Cup 2006, diving
8 Responses to “L’estate del 2006: Italia - Australia”
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Tell me about it. I’ve been over this one for so long that it gets tiresome to talk to these idiots. How about this one, closer to home: The US got robbed against Italy…
That one is even more obnoxious. US fans felt that red cards against their players were not warranted (well, the one red card and then Pope’s second, incredibly stupid 2nd yellow). So, if you ever feel like presenting the argument against this one, it’d be just as good of a read.
Oh, sure! The USA match!
I remember that the US had that big goon they call “Gooch” covering Toni, and “Gooch” had to resort to constant fouls to “handle” (as the announcers called it) Toni.
The US was no match for Italy from a technical standpoint, so the resorted to dirty tackle after dirty tackle. They’d aim for Italian ankles, and then complain when the Italians went down. No $&*# they went down, the US would go down too if the Italians were aiming for ankles.
Then, De Rossi got some payback, intentionally or not. Unfortunately, it was on the only US player that was having a somewhat clean match.
That “Gooch” guy though… man. I still get angry about him. The announcers were kissing his @$$ the entire time, talking about how he’s containing Toni, meanwhile, he’s basically fouling like it’s the NBA.
I don’t sweat it when others hate on the Azzurri. I laugh. It’s a compliment after all. If we were losing, nobody would take the time to run us down. It’s that we win — and that we do it with determined teamwork, rather than patsy Brazilian flair — that people hate on the Azzurri. Whatever. Italy has been producing champions at the club and national team level since the inception of the international game. No one’s lucky for 80 years. It’s called being good. So bring on the hate. And cry your eyes out as you look at the four stars on the blue jersey.
I like this comment: “No one’s lucky for 80 years.”
Nice one, mctalian!
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The comment regarding Materazzi’s red card is quite refreshing, however I’d go further by stating that the incident was made to look worse thanks to Bresciano hysterically rolling on the ground in what seemed to be rather minimal contact (if any) by his opposite number. I never understood how anybody condemns Grosso and slam him for cheating; but yet nobody even makes a peep when Bresciano’s dive made a total meal out of Materazzi’s tackle.
Personally there’s no denying that Materazzi is a thug, however in this incident nobody can be sure that his intention was to hurt his opponent. Bresciano still had the ball and immediately chipped it across the field as soon as Materazzi confronted him with the tackle. It’s so difficult to interpret what were Materazzi’s intentions were due to the incident occurring so quickly.
Although what is not difficult to see if you look at the replay carefully, the Australian player had avoided a potential collision and barely looked like he had been hacked down physically. I’m not saying that a player shouldn’t be allowed to avoid a collision if he senses one is about to happen and initially Bresciano did manage to dodge over Materazzi’s body. But suddenly, as Materazzi crashed into Zambrotta, Bresciano then throws his entire body onto the ground and exaggeratingly roles on the grass about several times as if to indicate he had been seriously hurt.
Now it is one thing to avoid a challenge, but was it really necessary to collapse spectacularly like a sack of potatoes if you’re not genuinely hurt? Again, if Grosso is purported to be a cheat then what about Bresciano’s theatrical efforts that contributed getting a player expelled from a match, hence gaining an unfair advantage? If this isn’t a gross example of double standards, then what is?
I have no answer, David. I think that when it’s all said and done, the reason people remember this match was because winning a match with a penalty kick in the final minutes is always dramatic - and therefore always memorable. As a result, people remember this game, and with so many emotions attached to it (including anti-Italian bias), they don’t see things clearly, even though we can review videos like the ones above, and see the truth.
Care to comment?